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The need for more trained and qualified nurses is a problem faced by health care systems across the United States.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects an average of 203,200 openings for registered nurses (RNs) annually between 2021 and 2031. The National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) 2023 Environmental Scan reports that Georgia has among the lowest ratios of employed RNs per population, with fewer than 750 employed registered nurses per 100,000 people.
The need for more nurses exists partly because of an anticipated increase in nurse retirements. In 2020, the median age of RNs was 52, with more than one in five indicating an intent to retire by 2025, according to the 2020 National Council of State Boards of Nursing and National Forum of State Nursing Workforce Centers survey of the U.S. nursing workforce.
According to a 2022 National Nursing Workforce Study, 100,000 registered nurses left the workforce due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and 41 percent of the RN total is now comprised of nurses with a mean age of 36 and fewer than 10 years of work experience. Approximately 31 percent of nurses under age 35 say they intend to leave their position, and 32 percent are considering resigning, according to a 2022 American Nurses Foundation survey.
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The Georgia Nursing Workforce Center carefully examines the current demand for nurses, the number of nurses our educational system is producing, the rate of nurses retiring, and the needs of the overall nursing workforce to better understand the state of nursing in Georgia.
For additional information about the Georgia Nursing Workforce Center or for information on how you can get involved, please email ganursing@emory.edu.
“A healthy and well nursing workforce is key to a healthy and well Georgia. The opportunity for learning and community with this center will help to strengthen and promote a diverse, inclusive, and equity-minded nursing workforce, prepared and supported to meet Georgia's health and care needs.”
- Chelsea Hagopian, GNWC Executive Director
